TARGETING POACHERS; ILLEGAL HUNTING TAKES A TOLL.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Opening the evidence freezer for the state Department of Fish and Game in Fillmore, Warden Steve Ulrich pointed with disgust to the frozen remains of wild animals, all killed by poachers.

They included a wild pig confiscated recently from two Glendale poachers, a deer that a North Hollywood hunter shot illegally, and a package of feathers from a wild turkey killed out of season.

In the nation's second-largest metropolitan area, poaching has fast become a major problem, with 12 of every 100 poaching violations statewide occurring in Los Angeles County last year.

``Poaching is going on more than people realize here,'' Ulrich said. ``I'd estimate we don't hear about 99 percent of the poaching happening. There are so few of us, we'd be lucky to catch 1 percent of them.''

Recent poaching cases include a man wardens call ``Trash Can Joe'' who wardens said was caught trying to poach black bear in the forest above La Canada-Flintridge.

There also was the case of two Glendale residents accused of shooting a wild pig in Monterey County, and archers who stalk deer at the Encino and Chatsworth reservoirs and a San Fernando Valley cemetery.

Altogether, wardens issued 1,818 poaching violations countywide last year, mostly for fishing violations, but the figure includes 57 hunting cases. These range from the illegal use of lights to stun deer to the illegal sale of bear organs, an Asian delicacy thought to cure arthritis, gastric disturbances and a range of ailments.

Despite the proximity of millions of people, an incredible variety of wildlife thrives in the hills and mountains around Los Angeles in numbers far surpassing mountainous areas elsewhere in the state, according to Lt. Warden Terry Hodges, who has written three books on the adventures of California game wardens.

``These same city wardens deal with more outlaw hunters and fisherman than most wardens elsewhere,'' he said.

Driving much of this near-urban poaching is the market for animal parts like bear gall bladders, wild meats and abalone that sell for thousands of dollars.

``The commercialization of wildlife is a serious problem,'' Ulrich said. ``That is the biggest problem with poaching in the city.''

Poaching in California is a $100-million-a-year business, an extremely lucrative enterprise, wardens said.

``It's big business,'' said Fish and Game Warden Capt. Jerry Spansail, who supervises inland wardens in Los Angeles and Orange counties. ``In some places it's more lucrative than narcotics.''

Bear baiting

Even among wardens, the man they call ``Trash Can Joe'' is a legend. The licensed hunting guide earned his nickname after he was arrested for shooting an arrow into a bear rooting around in a trash dumpster a few years ago, wardens said.

But that man, John Joseph Clay, referred to himself as ``Black Robinhood,'' Ulrich said. While serving a search warrant at his home after the trash can incident, wardens discovered a stack of business cards, which read: ``Black Robinhood Guide Service - Trophy Bear and Deer Hunts,'' Hodges said.

On Aug. 19, 1998, following a tip, Ulrich and Warden Mike Conely discovered Clay's bait pile of doughnuts and rotten meat in the Angeles National Forest above La Canada Flintridge, Hodges said.

On the platform 18 feet up a tree, he had an ice chest with beer, a charcoal barbecue, food and ``glow sticks,'' chemical light generating devices, Hodges said.

Hiding and waiting

The wardens hid in the brush and watched as Clay returned with a bow and arrow and began to add to his bait pile, hanging a glow stick above it.

Finally, Conely came out of the brush and ordered Clay to come down. He did so but not before placing a blanket over the barbecue, starting a fire in the tree as a diversion, Hodges said.

Conely climbed up and doused the fire with ice water and beer. He discovered a loaded .38 caliber revolver.

Clay pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of unlawful hunting and possession of a concealed weapon, said Deputy District Attorney Maureen O'Brien. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, fined $4,050, ordered to pay $2,000 restitution and told not to hunt and advertise himself as a hunting guide for three years, O'Brien said.

If they can't find the animal they want in the hills around Los Angeles, they will travel.

Glendale residents Artak Oktanian and Vagan Abgaryan were arrested on suspicion of shooting a wild pig on a private ranch in Monterey County and returning to Glendale with the animal in the back of their Jeep, Ulrich said.

``It was still alive, just barely,'' Ulrich said. ``That pig suffered for four hours. They were going to eat it.''

They are accused of hunter trespass and unlawful possession of a wild pig, Monterey County Warden Jim Solis said, adding the case has not gone to court yet.

Solis estimates he arrests about 50 Glendale and North Hollywood residents a year in Monterey County who hunt the pigs without licenses, on private lands or with spotlights.

``There does seem to be an inordinate amount of people from Glendale and North Hollywood,'' he said, explaining that wild pig apparently is a popular dish. ``I've heard they are pretty fond of the pigs.''

In the last year, Ulrich and other wardens have investigated deer poaching in the hills above Sylmar, spearfishing and net fishing in Big Tujunga Creek and Castaic Lake and the sale of bear gall bladders in the Valley.

By far, deer poaching is the most prevalent.

Hunters were caught recently at the Encino Reservoir with rifles and another time workers found blinds used by bow hunters, officials said.

Wardens now have a new weapon in the fight against poachers: ``Robo-Deer,'' the robotic decoy wardens use in sting operations to catch poachers.

The decoy features a turning head and twitching tail, which from a distance looks like the real thing. Hunters use lights at night to stun the deer, a practice called spotlighting or jack-lighting.

``We have quite a few deer poachers around here,'' Ulrich said. ``We put the decoys up and usually every night someone will shoot one. I'd say about one in 25 cars will shoot at them.''

WHO TO CALL

Wardens ask anyone with information about poachers to call (888) DFG-CALTIP.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) In the Castaic area, California Fish and Game Warden Marty Wall prepares a robotic deer for use in a sting operation to catch poachers.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2) Game Warden Steve Ulrich inspects a pair of antlers from a buck poached near Mt. Wilson.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box: Who to call (see text)